Information about Nepali Language

Nepali नेपाली
Spoken in:	Nepal, India, Bhutan.
Region:	South Asia.
Total speakers:	native - 17 million[1], total - appr. 40 million
Ranking:	56
Language family:	}}}  Indo-Iranian   Indo-Aryan    Pahari (Northern zone)     Eastern Pahari      Nepali}}}
Writing system:	Devanagari script
Official status
Official language of:	Nepal, Sikkim (India)
Regulated by:	Language Academy of Nepal
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	ne
ISO 639-2:	nep
ISO 639-3:	nep

Nepali (Khaskura) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Nepal, Bhutan, and some parts of India and Myanmar (Burma).

The term Nepal originally meant the Kathmandu Valley, and thus the terme Nepali was historically used for the indigenous Tibeto-Burman language of that valley, today known as Newari or Nepal Bhasa. However, this article will cover only the official Indo-Aryan language.

It is the official language of Nepal and also the official language of Sikkim, a state in India. Roughly half the population of Nepal speaks Nepali as a mother tongue. Many other Nepalese speak it as a second language, however its imposition as the sole official language in the education system, courts and government has become increasingly controversial and was an important issue in the 1996-2006 civil war.

Nepali goes by various names. English speakers generally call it Nepali or Nepalese (i.e. the language of Nepal).

It is also called Gorkhali or Gurkhali, "the language of the Gurkhas, "and Parbatiya, "the language of the mountains." Khaskura is the oldest term, literally speech of the Khas who were rice-growing Indo-Aryan settlers in the Karnali-Bheri basin of far western Nepal since prehistoric or early historic times. Khaskura exists in opposition to Khamkura, a group of Tibeto-Burman dialects spoken by Kham peoples in highlands separating the Kharnali-Bheri basin from the Gandaki basin in central Nepal.

History

Then perhaps 500 years ago, Khas peoples migrated eastward, bypassing the inhospitable Kham highlands to settle in the lower valleys of the Gandaki basin suited to rice cultivation. One notable extended family settled in Gorkha, a petty principality about halfway between Pokhara and Kathmandu. Then in the late 1700s a scion named Prithvi Narayan raised an army of Gurungs, Magars and possibly other hill tribesmen and set out to conquer and consolidate dozens of petty principalities in the himalayan foothills. Since Gorkha had replaced the original Khas homeland as the center of political and military initiative, Khaskura was redubbed Gorkhali, i.e. language of the Gorkhas.

Prithvi Narayan's especially notable military achievement was conquest of the urbanized Kathmandu Valley, on the eastern rim of the Gandaki basin. This region was also called Nepal at the time. Kathmandu became Prithvi Narayan's new capital, then he and his heirs extended their domain east into the Kosi basin, north to the Tibetan Plateau, south into the plains of northern India, and west of the Karnali/Bheri basin.

Expansion, particularly to the north, west and south brought the growing state into conflict with British and Chinese territorial ambitions. This led to wars that trimmed it back to roughly Nepal's present borders or less, however both great powers understood the value of a buffer state and did not attempt to reduce the new country further. Since the Kathmandu Valley or Nepal had become the new center of political initiative, this word gradually came to refer to the entire realm and not just the Kathmandu Valley. And so Gorkhali, language of Gorkha, was again redubbed Nepali.

Nepali is the easternmost of the Pahari languages, a group of related languages spoken across the lower elevations of the Himalaya range, from eastern Nepal through the Indian states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. The influence of Nepali language can also be seen in Bhutan and some parts of Myanmar. Nepali developed in proximity to a number of Tibeto-Burman languages, most notably Nepal Bhasa, and shows Tibeto-Burman influences.

Nepali is closely related to Hindi but is more conservative, borrowing fewer words from Persian and English and using more Sanskritic derivations. No other modern language is closer to Sanskrit than Nepali. Today, Nepali is commonly written in the Devanagari script. Bhujimol is an older script native to Nepal.

Nepali developed a small literature during the second half of the nineteenth century, which included the Adhyatma Ramayana by Sundarananda Bara (1833), Birsikka, an anonymous collection of folk-tales, and a Ramayana by Bhanubhakta. There were also several translations of Sanskrit works, and a version of the Bible.

See also: Lhotshampa

Grammar

Nepali is a generally head-final language, which gives, among other things, an SOV word-order, and postpositions instead of prepositions. It has limited grammatical gender, although in many cases gender agreement is confined to the written form of the language. Some adjectives are inflected according to gender in Nepali.

Postpositions

Nepali nouns do not inflect for case. However, there are a number of postpositions which have a case-like function. These postpositions are clitics. That is, they are affixes which attach to an entire phrase, rather than a single word. These include -को ko, a possessive postposition, -ले le, which performs an ergative function in the past tense, but also an instrumental postposition. A further important grammatical postposition is -लाई lāī, which marks the direct object on animate nouns, as well as the indirect object on all nouns. Additionally, there are a number of postpositions which perform similar functions to normal prepositions in languages such as English.

As well as simple postpositions, there are two-part postpositions. That is, a postposition, especially -को ko or -भन्दा bhandā, followed by another word, which together form a single positional meaning. Examples are -को बारेमा ko bāremā 'about', -को लागि ko lāgi 'for', and -भन्दा माथी bhandā māthī 'above.

Pronouns

Nepali has an elaborate system of pronouns, depending on the gender, number, distance, and status of the referent. The latter can be understood as being normally divided into three grades: low grade, middle grade and high grade. With third-person pronouns, the low grade is used when the person is not present or of low status, the middle grade is primarily (outside of a literary context) used for women, although one of the plurals of the middle-grade pronouns is commonly used for groups. The high-grade form is used for people who are present or of high status. There is a similar, but simpler system for second-person pronouns, in which the low-grade form is used for small children, animals, and pejoratively; the middle-grade is used for people younger or of lower status than the speaker, and also as a familiar form of address; the high-grade is used for people older, or of higher status, and also as a polite form of address. Finally, there is an additional form for extremely formal situations.

The third person singular pronouns can be summarised as follows:

3rd person singular pronouns in Nepali

!Proximal	Distal
Low-grade	यो yo	त्यो tyo	ऊ ū
Middle-grade	यिनी yinī	तिनी tinī	उनी unī
High-grade	यहाँ yahā̃	वहाँ vahā̃

The remaining personal pronouns are relatively simple: The second person pronouns are तँ tã, तिमी timī, तपाईं tapāī̃ and हजुर hajur. The first person singular pronoun is म ma, and the first person plural is हामी hāmī. Most of the pronouns pluralise (even हामी hāmī, for emphasis) with the suffix -हरू harū. However, म ma, तँ tã and ऊ ū do not pluralise, and यो yo and त्यो tyo have यी yī and ती tī as plurals.

Generally the pronouns यो yo, त्यो tyo, and तँ tã should be avoided in polite conversation where referring to humans, with the exception of infants.

Verbs

Verbs in Nepali are quite highly inflected, agreeing with the subject in number, gender, status and person. They also inflect for tense, mood, and aspect. As well as these inflected finite forms, there are also a large number of participial forms.

Possibly the most important verb in Nepali, as well as the most irregular, is the verb हुनु hunu 'to be, to become'. In the simple present tense, there are at least three conjugations of हुनु hunu, only one of which is regular. The first, the ho-conjugation is, broadly speaking, used to define things, and as such its complement is usually a noun. The second, the cha-conjugation is used to describe things, and the complement is usually an adjectival or prepositional phrase. The third, the huncha-conjugation, is used to express regular occurrences or future events, and also expresses 'to become' or 'to happen'.

They are conjugated as follows:

Simple Present conjugation of the verb हुनु hunu

!हो ho	छ cha	हुन्छ huncha
First person singular	हुँ ''hu	छु chu	हुन्छु hunchu
First person plural	हौँ ''hau	छौँ chaũ	हुन्छौँ hunchaũ
Second person singular low-grade	होस् hos	छस् chas	हुन्छस् hunchas
Second person middle-grade/plural	हौ hau	छौ chau	हुन्छौ hunchau
High grade	हुनुहन्छ hunuhuncha	हुनुहन्छ hunuhuncha	हुनुहन्छ hunuhuncha
Third person singular low-grade	हो ho	छ cha	हुन्छ huncha
Third person middle-grade/plural masculine	हुन् hun	छन् chan	हुन्छन् hunchan
Third person middle-grade/plural feminine	हुन् hun	छिन् chin	हुन्छिन् hunchin

हुनु hunu also has two suppletive stems in the simple past, namely भ- bha- (the use of which corresponds to the huncha-conjugation) and थि- thi- (which corresponds to both the cha and ho-conjugations) which are otherwise regularly conjugated. भ- bha- is also the stem used in the formation of the various participles.

The finite forms of regular verbs are conjugated as follows (using गर्नु garnu 'to do' as an example):

Finite forms of गर्नु garnu 'to do'

!Simple Present/Future	Probable Future	Simple Past	Past Habitual	Injunctive	Imperative
First person singular	गर्छु garchu 'I (will) do'	गरुँला garũlā 'I will (probably) do'	गरेँ garẽ 'I did'	गर्थेँ garthẽ 'I used to do'	गरुँ garũ 'may I do'	-
First person plural	गर्छौँ garchaũ 'We (will) do'	गरौँला garaũlā 'We will (probably) do'	गर्यौ garyaũ 'We did'	गर्थ्यौँ garthyaũ 'We used to do'	गरौँ garaũ 'may we do, let's do'	-
Second person singular low-grade	गर्छस् garchas 'you (will) do'	गर्लास् garlās 'you will (probably) do'	गरिस् garis 'you did'	गर्थिस् garthis 'you used to do'	गरेस् gares 'may you do'	गर् gar 'do!'
Second person middle-grade/plural	गर्छौ garchau 'you (will) do'	गरौला garaulā 'you will (probably) do'	गर्यौ garyau 'you did'	गर्थ्यौ garthyau 'you used to do'	गरौ garau 'may you do'	गर gara 'do'
High grade	गर्नुहुन्छ garnuhuncha 'you (will) do'	गर्नुहोला garnuhola 'you will (probably) do'	गर्नुभयो garnubhayo 'you did'	गर्नुहुन्थ्यो garnuhunthyo 'you used to do'	गर्नुहोस् garnuhos 'may you do, please do'	-
Third person singular low-grade	गर्छ garcha 'he does'	गर्ला garlā 'he will (probably) do'	गर्यो garyo 'he did'	गर्थ्यो garthyo 'he used to do'	गरोस् garos 'may he do'	-
Third person middle-grade/plural masculine	गर्छन् garchan 'they (will) do'	गर्लान् garlān 'they will (probably) do'	गरे gare 'they did'	गर्थे garthe 'they used to do'	गरून् garūn 'may they do'	-
Third person middle-grade/plural feminine	गर्छिन् garchin 'she (will) do'	गर्लिन् garlin 'she will (probably) do'	गरिन् garin 'she did'	गर्थिन् garthin 'she used to do'	गरुन् garūn 'may she do'	-

As well as these, there are two forms which are infinitival and participial in origin, but are frequently used as if they were finite verbs. Again using गर्नु garnu as an example, these are गरेको gareko 'did' and गर्ने garne 'will do'. Since they are simpler than the conjugated forms, these are often overused by non-native speakers, which can sound stilted.

The eko-participle is also the basis of perfect tenses in Nepali. This is formed by using the auxiliary verb हुनु hunu (usually the cha-form in the present tense and the thi-form in the past) with the eko-participle. So, for example, मैले काम गरेको छु maile kām gareko chu means 'I have done (the) work'.

Infinitives

Nepali has two infinitives. The first is formed by adding -नु nu to the verb stem. This is the citation form of the verb, and is used in a number of constructions, the most important being the construction expressing obligation. This is formed by combining the nu-infinitive with the verb पर्नु parnu 'to fall'. This is an impersonal construction, which means that the object marker -लाई lāī is often added to the agent, unless the verb is transitive, in which case the ergative/instrumental case marker -ले le is added. So, for example, I have to do work would be translated as मैले काम गर्नुपर्छ maile kām garnuparcha. It is also used with the postposition -अघि aghi 'before'. गर्नुअघि garnuaghi, then, means 'before doing'.

The second infinitive is formed by adding -न na to the verb stem. This is used in a wide variety of situations, and can generally be used where the infinitive is used in English. For example, म काम गर्न रामकहाँ गएको थिएँ ma kām garna rāmkahā̃ gaeko thiẽ 'I had gone to Ram's place to do work'.

Phrases

Examples of phrases in Nepali include:

• namaste. नमस्ते — all-purpose Hindu greeting, often translated as "I salute the god within you". Its literal Sanskrit meaning is "your homage" and in common usage simply means "hello" or "goodbye."
• tapāī̃ko/timro nām ke ho? तपाईंको/तिम्रो नाम के हो? - What is your name?
• mero nām Ālok ho. मेरो नाम आलोक हो — My name is Alok.
• tapāī̃lāī/timilāī kasto cha? तपाईंलाई/तिमीलाई कस्तो छ? — How are you?

The following are more commonly used: ke cha? के छ? (informal), sañcai hunuhuncha? सञ्चै हुनुहुन्छ? (formal)

• khānā khāne ṭhāũ kahā̃ cha? खाना खाने ठाउँ कहाँ छ? — Where is a place to eat?
• kāṭhmāḍaũ jāne bāṭo dherai lāmo cha. काठ्माडौँ जाने बाटो धेरै लामो छ — The road to Kathmandu is very long.
• nepālmā baneko नेपालमा बनेको — Made in Nepal.
• ma nepālī hũ म नेपाली हूँ — I am Nepali.
• pugyo पुग्यो — That is enough.

Further reading

Courses and Grammars

• Hutt, M. & Subedi, A. (2003) Teach Yourself Nepali.

References and dictionaries

• Schmidt, R. L. (1993) A Practical Dictionary of Modern Nepali.
• Turner, R. L. (1931) A Comparative and Etymological Dictionary of the Nepali Language.

See also

• Nepali literature

External links

• A set of free tools for typing, web search and email in Unicode Nepali
• How to write nepali
• Nepali Discussion Forums
• Download Nepali Word Processor: Madhyam developed by Balendu Sharma Dadhich
• Translation of useful phrases in Nepali language.

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